Senate Democrats' Unity Strategy Will Face Tough Tests
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
The opening gambit by Senate Democrats on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security gives a strong signal about how the party intends to handle its position as the minority on the Senate floor.
The strategy of using fundamental floor procedures to block action on controversial immigration pieces in the bill (HR 240) carries political risks in the near term, however, and big questions over what will be a long congressional term of votes.
For the DHS bill, it has meant keeping united lawmakers who span the caucus political spectrum. Democrats will be challenged to keep that coalition together as Republicans try to peel some of the ranks away and bring forward legislation in areas such as health care that present tough choices for members.
The process is going to vary from bill to bill, said Sen. Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats. It depends on what the issues are. I just dont think a budget bill is the proper place to legislate policy.
The blockade on the DHS bill is a shift from the strategy the Democrats undertook last month with the first major bill before the Senate, the measure (S 1) mandating completion of the Keystone XL. While a majority of Democrats opposed the bill, they debated amendments and ultimately helped pass the bill.
Its no funbeing in the minority, and I hope it ends soon, but as long as were in the minority, I think we should try to be constructive, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the No. 2 in Democratic leadership, said at the time.
But Democrats changed up for the DHS bill. Tied to the measure are provisions that would block or roll back President Barack Obamas executive actions on immigration and restrict his ability to take further actions in the future.
Even as Republicans offered alternative proposals to minimize the impact on immigration policy, Democrats balked. Democratic leaders likened any attempt to tie DHS funding to immigration riders to hostage taking.
People need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, said New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich, who helped pull the chamber together this week for a bipartisan lunch. There are times were going to throw down and fight and that should not keep us from working with people when theres constructive common ground. On this issue we have some very substantial differences, clearly.
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Senate Democrats' Unity Strategy Will Face Tough Tests